Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Should parents and teachers of
teenagers be more active advocates for a later starting time of school in their
school systems? Chronobiological research and trials of later starting times
say we should.

In his 2012 publication[1],
chronobiologist Til Roenneberg adds considerable weight and science to reasons why
all schools with teens should be taking this seriously. Roenneberg describes
individual ‘chronotypes’ amongst humans based upon research on different sleep
patterns of individuals during working days as well as on days when
there is no schedule or work demands.

“In fact, each of us possesses a differentchronotype— an internal timing type best
defined by your midpoint of sleep, or midsleep, which you can calculate by
dividing your average sleep duration by two and adding the resulting number to
your average bedtime on free days, meaning days when your sleep and waking
times are not dictated by the demands of your work or school schedule. For
instance, if you go to bed at 11 P.M. and wake up at 7 A.M., add four hours to
11pm and you get 3 A.M. as your mid-sleep...” Maria Popova (2012)[2].

It is this
mid-sleep score that differs so much during the teenage years.

“Young
children are relatively early chronotypes (to the distress of many young
parents), and then gradually become later. During puberty and adolescence
humans become true night owls, and then around twenty years of age reach a
turning point and become earlier again for the rest of their lives. On average,
women reach this turning point at nineteen and a half while men start to become
earlier again at twenty-one … [T]his clear turning point in the developmental
changes of chronotype … [is] the first biological marker for the end of
adolescence” Til Roenneberg (2012)[3].

The evidence points to the teen’s
biological need to go to sleep later, and thus rise later. Roenneberg cites worrying
research that points to many teens experiencing narcolepsy during the day and
that despite their bodies needing a full 8 to 10 hours sleep our social demands
of them are making this impossible during the working week.

If teens are to reap the benefits of a full night’s
sleep, this has serious implications about the optimal learning environment a school
does or does not offer.

The debate around taking action
as a result of research findings started around 2009, and some schools have already
reaped the benefits of adapting their timetables to suit their students sleep
patterns. It should be noted that in the
example quoted below, New Zealand secondary schools begin between 8:30 am and
9:00am, (finishing around 3:15pm) unlike their counterparts in other countries
which may start as early as 7 am.

“...a study
has found if teens start the school day after 10am they're likely to be more
alert, get more sleep and be in a better mood.

Thanks to almost 700 Year 9, 11 and
12 pupils at Wellington High School, researchers now have the first scientific
data about how New Zealand teenage sleep patterns can benefit from schools
changing their start times...

The later
start time of 10.15am, introduced in 2002, reflects the findings of other
research which shows teenagers need eight to nine hours' sleep a night. - Susan Peperell (2010)[4].

However, there
is a warning in the same article with further research cited that parents and
teens need to be aware of:

“But here's the catch: teens with iPods, MP3 players, computers
or gaming consoles in their bedrooms are getting less sleep – and the more
technology they have, the less sleep they're getting.

Those are the findings of a study
conducted by Massey University's Sleep/Wake Research Centre that compared the
results to an earlier study carried out before Wellington High changed its
start times for senior pupils.

I would urge a full reading of
Peperell’s article and Til Roenneberg’s book.
I’d also encourage some serious discussion both around your dinner table
and in your schools. Perhaps this is an issue that gifted teens, as leaders, can take to their community as advocates for their peers.

If your school has changed its
start time from earlier to later, I would be most interested in hearing from you. Please feel free to add comments to this
blog or email me

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

10 ways Parents of Gifted Teens can support them in high school
(continued)

Parents of gifted teens may well feel that coupling
the phrases ‘life balance’ and ‘gifted teens’ is an oxymoron! They may have watched their teen become totally immersed in their latest passion, sometimes only surfacing
for air when ultimatums are issued. They may have become used to the fact that
their teen swings between surviving on far less sleep than seems healthy to not emerging
from the heap of bedclothes in their cave until almost dinnertime. Or they may have gotten used to the fact that
their previously garrulous son or daughter has become as communicative as a Neanderthal.
They may have trained themselves not to
grind their teeth when observing the inordinate amount of time their teen spends
on exercising the “blackberry thumb” (smartphone texting). They may also be concerned
that not enough time (or conversely, too much time) is spent studying.

One of the key descriptors of giftedness is “passion”.
Passion for learning and mastering
whatever it is that has taken their interest. Another descriptor is “intense
concentration”. These twin attributes are
part of the stuff of their potential genius, but they can come at a cost to
both physical and mental health. Given that contrary to our teens' own belief that
they are bullet proof and that their parents know nothing, it falls upon us to
be older, wiser and infinitely more boring. We need to help them find the right balance.

Intense concentration
has a resulting need of relaxation.

As parents we need to both respect that, and
at times even enforce it. (Now that sounds somewhat paradoxical!) Allow your
gifted teen the time to ‘mellow out’ and participate in mind-bogglingly inane
activities – it is a way of tuning out. Playing
computer games gives the intellectual brain a break. So does bouncing a ball around the yard, or stretching
out on the couch clutching the remote and sporting headphones with the apparent
ability to listen to two things at the same time. The focus here is on balance though. An
inordinate amount of time ‘relaxing’ isn’t healthy either!

There needs to be a
healthy balance between physical activity and mental activity.

Encourage regular involvement in sport or physical
activity. Not only is this developing a healthy
lifestyle for his future, it will actually have a positive effect on his
learning. Brains starved of oxygen do
not function so well, especially when sitting for long periods.

Sleep deprivation.

Scratch the
surface of most high school teachers and you will find that they are concerned
about the number of high achievers with sleep issues. They see these students struggling to stay
awake in class, especially in the mornings, and immediately after lunch. And no, it’s not boredom, it’s actually lack
of sleep (and sometimes the wrong lunch). We know that growing bodies need sleep but paradoxically
we are biologically wired to become night owls during our teenage years[1]. Unfortunately
these are the very years that our children want to push the boundaries, assert
their independence and ‘prove’ their maturity by staying up late.

There is a general acceptance that some young
gifted children sleep less than their peers. Do they sleep less because they physically need less sleep or simply because they suffer from insomnia because of an overactive, creative mind? It may be a moot point. The fact is, as they move
into their teens, growing bodies and brains need more
sleep but
they get less. School systems that demand an early start of teens whose bodies
are biologically clocking in at a different sleep rhythm compound the problem[2].
Further, the prevailing societal view that sleeping little is a badge of honour to which one
should aspire, is a misguided one which needs to be de-bunked.

Some teens compound the
problem by pushing themselves to stay up later and later. What they seem unaware of is the damage that sleep
deprivation can cause, both in the short and long term. One gifted teen I
worked with was awake until at least 2am every morning. Anna[3]
had every moment of her day filled with work from waking up a 6am until about
10:30pm at night. Work consisted of school work and study, extra tuition in
other non-school-related subjects after school, and helping parents in their
restaurant. By the time she retreated to
her room at 10:30pm she was craving social contact and relaxation. So she sat on the internet chatting until at
least 2am.

Ah, Sleep! perchance to dream...

Information is an important factor in changing behaviours. Anna read the information I gave her about
sleep deprivation and we discussed it together. Then we looked at her weekly timetable, and shared
it with her parents in a round table discussion. As a family they made decisions to change
things. But most importantly, Anna had ownership of the changes because she now
understood what sleep deprivation was doing to her mind and body and she wanted
those changes. After changing her sleep habits, Anna was delighted to report that
she found her mental alertness during school and studying hugely improved. Interestingly, she said she hadn’t realised
that there was anything wrong with her sleep-deprived performance – until she looked back from a sleep-healthy
perspective and saw the difference.

Understanding the chronotypes of teenagers as described by chronobiologist Til Rennenberg (see [1]] below) will help us as parents realise that laziness is not the reason that our teens sleep late. Similarly, understanding the need for sleep and the effects of sleep deprivation will help our teens realise the importance of getting enough sleep.

Growing bodies and
minds need the right amount of nutrition

Breakfast is not
a meal to be skipped. Your teen needs to
be aware of the importance of fuelling the body at the beginning of the day so
that like a well-oiled and primed engine it continues to perform throughout the
morning. Understanding healthy food
options and choosing wisely is another life skill that is really important.

I can just hear some of you saying “Sure – you try
telling my teen what to eat – not a
chance!” Perhaps it is about picking the motivation: are they keen to be really
good at a sport or a particular field of endeavour? Talk to them about endurance – find some role
models in their field of interest (real life or biographies) as examples for them to find out how they
were successful in their endeavours. The fact is that excellence and mastery requires physical endurance as much as mental endurance. Use these champions or experts as examples, as well as those rising stars that failed, and why. Eventually bring the discussion around to
sustaining effort over long periods, what ‘burnout’ is and how important it is that we
nurture our body as well as our minds because that is the carriage that is
going to get us there. Information is gold.

We sometimes joke in the teaching world about the
difficulties of teaching the ‘graveyard shift’ after lunch. This is not something peculiar to just teens. Eat the wrong food at lunch time, and your
eyes and brain are begging for a ‘nod off’.
Foods high in sugar, and simple carbohydrates that convert quickly to
sugar rob the brain of its alertness and create drowsiness as the sugar rush
increases the blood sugar levels more than normal. Encourage your teen to choose proteins and
low GI foods when they make or buy their lunch. http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Feeling-Drowsy-After-Lunch
has some good suggestions as a starter.

You are not powerless as a parent to ensure that your gifted teen gets the
best they can out of high school. From the
moment they rise in the morning until the moment they fall asleep their
behaviours have an impact upon how well they do at school. How well they sleep, eat, exercise, and
maintain a healthy life balance is something that you can have an impact upon,
and something that the school can do comparatively little about. ‘Gifted teen’ and ‘Life
Balance’ need not be an oxymoron!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

10 ways Parents of Gifted Teens can support them in high school
(continued)

A home does not have to be a wealthy home for
gifted individuals to thrive! What is
needed are parents and family who value learning.

Valuing
learning is not the exclusive domain of the middle class or wealthy. For
example, not many people know that the Tongan people have more doctorates per
head of population than any other culture in the world[1]. This small, rich Pacific Island culture,
while not economically wealthy, has high expectations of their people although
they do things a little differently from other cultures. When the teen leaves school, he or she stays
home and cares for the babies and small children of their older brothers,
sisters or cousins while they are studying at University. As they get older, it
is their turn to study and gain their qualifications, supported by the other
members of the extended family. This is
a culture that values learning, and has an expectation of ‘giving back’ to the
community.

Research
shows that one of the key ingredients needed for gifted and talented students to
achieve highly is that they come from a supportive home environment that has
high expectations[2]. The other ingredients necessary have to do
with the inner qualities of the student, and provisions within the school
environment, but the major ingredient that parents can bring to the table is
their expectations of their child during their high school journey and beyond.

Not
all gifted and talented students have high achieving[3]
parents against whom they can model themselves.
Some come from backgrounds where it is frowned upon to be a high
achiever, and this may be actually discouraged (perhaps subconsciously) by
parents who cannot envisage the type of world that high achievement may project
their son or daughter into. Not only age
peers, but adults can be dismissive of the world of possibilities that could open
up for their gifted teen. It is an alien
world to them. They may even fear it or feel threatened by it. The ‘culture’ of
the neighbourhood may not place value upon academic success. Such students can
struggle to stand against the tide of opinion, but a teacher or mentor who
believes in them can make all the difference.

Surely gifted kids have enough pressure put on
them already by parents and teachers?

That
depends upon your definition of ‘high expectations’. There is a difference between high expectations and pressure to
perform. Let’s unpack each of them.

Pressure to perform: where pressure to perform is the
dominate message coming from parents.

These parents may see every single step
in the learning journey as crucial. They
place emphasis upon constant high achievement.
They may micro-manage their teen, rather than encourage them to become
independent learners who set SMART goals and implement them. In these pressure situations students can
feel that unless they are highly successful they are letting themselves down,
and that their parents and teachers will like them less for any perceived
‘failure’ to achieve. This belief, while it may temporarily encourage the
students to work harder, does not reinforce the behaviours of an autonomous
learner. It feeds the anxieties of the gifted perfectionist, and is
generally counter-productive.

On the other hand, Parents who have high expectations

Value learning

Parents value the wisdom and knowledge that
continued learning brings, not only as a future insurance for employment, but
in the benefits it brings to their community and society. They value learning for its own sake and take
an interest in their teen’s interests and passions.

Have a belief in their child’s ability to do well in life, and
communicate this to them. Frequently.

Research indicates that underachieving
gifted students have been ‘turned around’ by having someone who believes in
their ability to succeed. Sometimes parents can be tempted to excuse
underachievement with comments such as “well I never did well in exams either”
or “I’m not surprised she is no good at [x subject / school] neither was her
father.” This is counter-productive and
sends the message that the parent has no faith in their teen’s ability to surmount
obstacles. Also, your teen is being educated in a different world to you, so comparison is not necessarily valid. Some teens are quick to pick up on an excuse to drop out of the hard
yards, because they have yet to learn the rewards of sticking with the long
haul. Rather have faith in your teen’s
eventual success in their life-long learning journey and be there to pick them
up when they lose faith in themselves.

Makes sure their teen knows that there is an expectation that they will
develop and use their gifts and talents.

This means their teen knows it is not okay to
squander the ability they have been given, and that with the privilege of having
that talent in generous quantities comes the responsibility to put it to good
use. Many cultures and religions would add the expectation that it should be
put to good use in the service of others – their community or society. Many
gifted individuals are driven by a passion to ‘make a difference’ in their
world, so this expectation need not be the cause of conflict.

Understand that a learning journey and building mastery takes time.

Just as a small step forwards is not a major
achievement, a small hiccup or backwards step is not a failure. Their teens
know that it is their continued application and their ability to rise above
disappointment or less-than-desirable outcomes that is admired by their
parents, not just the award.

Understand that there is always going to be others out there who have more
talent, and who are more gifted.

These parents measure their gifted teen by
qualities such as perseverance, self-control, a growing self-efficacy and against
their individual progress rather than against the grades and success of others.

Helping them bridge the gap between teen and adult does not mean you should become a doormat upon which they scrape their feet as they pass over!

Parenting gifted teens is not for the
faint-hearted! You need to be there for them when they want to throw in the
towel, listen to the problems and issues they are facing and apply your parental
wisdom in discussion with them as to their options, choices, and the
consequences of those choices. Work with them to help them make informed decisions: help them find the
experts and mentors who can give them the advice that is needed. (Their high
school is sure to have personnel who can do this, but also seek assistance from
people in the community). It takes a whole village to raise a child; you are not on your own.

Above all, don’t lower your standards! Helping
them bridge the gap between teen and adult does not mean you should become a
doormat upon which they scrape their feet as they pass over! That sends a message that you don’t
believe they can achieve. Having
realistic, high expectations of our gifted youth reaffirms our faith in their eventual
success as they pick their pathways on their chosen journeys.

[2]Factors Affecting the Achievement of talented urban
Students (Reis, Hébert, Diaz, Maxfield, Ratley (1995) Case studies
of talented students who achieve and underachieve in urban high school.
Storrs, CT: NRCGT

[3] I am
not only referring here to highly successful academics. It should not be forgotten that high
achievers come in every field, from farming, to the arts, to community leaders
and beyond. It is the behaviours of
high achieving parents, in whatever area, that make parents excellent role
models. So don’t count yourself out!

Monday, June 18, 2012

10 Ways Parents of Gifted Learners can support
them in high school (continued)

“This is madness! I can’t cope with all this! They’ve got it
wrong, I’m not gifted.” (But they haven’t got it wrong at all.)

“I need to spend more time
on this otherwise I’ll not get an A.”(Then they don’t hand it in at all.)

“I ran out of time in the exam – that lost me a lot of points.”

“I don’t have enough time/ can’t finish it by then” (followed by “Can
you write the teacher a note?” or “I’m sick, I need a day off!”).

“Don’t bug me! I work better under pressure! I’ve got a whole week
to finish that.”(And they do!)

Sometimes
our gifted teens are so like us it is scary, and sometimes it seems as though
they are so different they may as well be another species - which is also
scary! Do you find yourself frequently running late, with deadlines that you
know you can’t possibly meet? Or are youa
super-organised person who works well to deadlines and has almost everything
completed ahead of schedule? If so, were you always able to do this, or did you
begin to master that skill as an adult? I’d suggest it was the latter. Some gifted teens pick up these skills almost
by osmosis, but many don’t. We can’t
assume that because they are gifted they will know how to prioritise and manage
their time.

Stress and work overload can often be part and
parcel of giftedness for several reasons:

Gifted
and talented are very different from one another. Their response to stress of workload can be
just as different.

Some who are multi-talented are in great demand by teachers; the
student who hasn’t yet learned to say ‘no’ can be selected to participate in
special programs by several different teachers, none of whom are necessarily aware
of that student’s commitments or workload.
These students need help in prioritising. However, as they mature, some gifted students
do thrive on quite a heavy workload.
These are the ones who have learned
to prioritise, and to say ‘no’ without being aggressive. But it is important that we parents still
keep an eye on their level of commitments and state of health.

Some gifted try to do everything
at a level of ‘perfect’, and then become overwhelmed by the amount of perceived
work they need to do. They may crumple
under the workload, or procrastinate because the task seems too big, and they
are scared of failure; or they may just give up and not attempt it at all. Perfectionism is a common trait amongst
gifted: it can be the driving force for
mastery and excellence, and as such is a healthy trait. But when perfectionism holds a person back
from making the most of their opportunities, or affects their physical or
mental health, it becomes unhealthy. Understanding healthy versus unhealthy perfectionism
is so important it is a topic of for future blogs.

Some gifted are twice exceptional (2e): they may have identified
or even unidentified barriers to learning success such as a poor short term
memory or organisational problems. It is
really important that these students have these correctly diagnosed so that
they can adopt appropriate strategies to compensate for these barriers, so they
can still experience success.
Prioritising will be important for them too.

Some haven’t yet grasped the fact that high grades in every
subject at secondary school level are no longer something they can easily pull
off. There are sophisticated skills
involved that require mastery and a far greater input of time that they
previously needed to put in: for
example, research, planning, ‘crafting’ and delivering their assignment in a
manner appropriate to the subject domain and with the higher level of thinking
that is expected at mastery level. So
they may ignore teacher advice on planning and implementing timelines, and
drafts, they wrongly anticipate the depth of work involved and set themselves
up for either a last minute panic and/or a lower grade. The latter of course dents their
self-confidence, and instead of realising that it was simply a matter of more
work, or working smarter, they begin to doubt their ability to deliver.

Learning to prioritise is a life skill.I wish I’d had it when I was a teen! There is a necessary step prior to
prioritising: Goal setting. Don’t expect
your teen to be enthusiastic about discussing this with you. But if you can encourage discussion about
this with either you or another adult your teen will find it easier to
prioritise.

Goals
have to be real, and achievable. Your gifted teen needs to understand that it
simply isn’t possible to achieve perfection in every single area of
learning. There aren’t enough hours in a
day. That would be like asking the
General Manager of a company to be an outstanding in accountancy, sales, art, engineering,
information technology, building maintenance, logistics, distribution,
marketing, and advertising. One of the best lessons you can instil into your
gifted teen (particularly the perfectionist) is the knowledge that it is okay
not to excel in every area. Support them
in making the decisions as to which areas they wish to excel in, and which
areas it is okay to just do okay in. Bring your own wisdom to the discussion,
but help them make informed choices for themselves.

Successful learners use S.M.A.R.T. goals. There is plenty on the web about these. Make sure your teen gets involved thinking about goals - it puts them in control, helps to determine priorities and is a key self-motivational tool.

Setting a long term goal might be as simple as “I want to graduate with a report that will make opportunities available to me in the areas that I choose to pursue”. (It is normal for gifted students not to know in advance what areas they want to pursue because they are often multi-talented. I believe that secondary school is about keeping doors and options open. However a few gifted students are very clear from an early age exactly what career they wish to pursue).

Bear in mind that in pursuing goals, life balance is important. There needs to be a balance between homework, study, sports, hobbies, leisure, after school employment where it occurs, and socialising. As an exercise, lay out a weekly timetable with your teen, filling times for each of these – from early morning through till lights out. It can put things in perspective and highlight problems if there is an imbalance. It may be that some of these things need prioritising!

Medium and short term goals spring from the question “what key things do I need to do to
achieve my goal?” They need to be specific.
Once some medium-term and short-term goals are established, they need to
prioritise, especially in the short term. Some of the questions your teen can ask
themselves in relation to the time they spend daily in specific areas of
learning:

What tasks need to be
done today / this week?

List tasks: homework and
study in different subject areas. With practice, listing can be a mental
checklist, but when things are in overload mode, it is better to write them
down.

How important is this task, in relation to my goals?

Know what is most
important. This is the most important
skill. What is a ‘must do’ versus a ‘would be
nice to do?’ This is a question I find I’m asking myself on a daily basis,
as my mind fills with all sorts of exciting possibilities and options, and I
can easily get sidetracked, even though it is justifiable work. Gifted teens
can have the same problem.

How much time should I realistically
spend on it?

Should I do this to
excellence level, or is it a task that I can simply complete to an ‘okay’ level
and move on?

Which task comes first?

In what order should I
prioritise these? What might need to be moved to the next day / next week?

What steps can I take if
I am really overloaded?

Teachers will wear a
request for an extension of time if it doesn’t happen too often, and if it
isn’t part of a legally required deadline date.
If your overload is caused by serious family or health issues, it’s
really important you see the person at school who is responsible for student
welfare to discuss the problem. This
might be a Dean or a Head of Faculty – schools differ in who they appoint for
student guidance. They know that
sometimes things go wrong, and students sometimes need support. They are there for you. Use them.

A word
in support of your teen’s teachers: teachers do
teach their students how to prioritise. Just like you, their parent, your teen’s
teachers do try to instil wisdom, but sometimes teens simply don’t listen.
Think about it: what teacher wouldn’t
want their students to be successful?
After all, it makes the teacher
look good! Most teachers I have worked with try to instil prioritising as part
of time management skills.

Teachers
teach prioritising as part of examination technique, for example. They teach their students to read through the paper first, then to prioritise
examination questions in order of their value in marks, and allocate an
amount of time to each question.

For
example: 5 questions need to be completed in an hour, and they
all require written answers. Two are
worth 30% each, another is worth 20% and two are worth only 10% each. The time
spent on each of these questions should reflect the marks. Sixty minutes in an hour – take off 5 minutes
at the beginning for reading the questions, and at the end for checking. That
leaves 50 minutes. The two 30% questions should receive about 15 minutes
each. The 20% question equals 10 minutes,
and two 10% questions no more than 5
minutes each. This ensures that the
student doesn’t waste time elaborating an answer that only requires a
comparatively brief response.

Examination
techniques necessarily vary from subject to subject. Many schools have subject
tutoring groups prior to examinations. It’s not your job as parent to know and teach
these. However, try asking your teen in
conversation what he knows about examination techniques and how they differ
from subject to subject. Ask him which
techniques he finds best. You will find
the answers fascinating, and it’s a subtle way of reinforcing the value of
these. You will find that he will also
be quick to recognise those that he should have employed, post
examination. A lesson learned. Don’t labour it; trust him to remember the
lesson. With luck it won’t happen again.

Prioritising is a skill. It is closely
linked with goal setting and time management skills, both of which deserve
further time and space. At my age I
still don’t always get prioritising right, but blending it into my daily work
has become an instinctive habit which has removed a lot of self-inflicted
stress.

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About Me

Author of "Developing Defensible Classroom Programmes for Gifted Secondary School Learners" (Available on Amazon.com). I am a Gifted Education specialist with a long term passion and involvement in gifted education. I've worked with gifted students and their parents as Gifted Education Coordinator for over fifteen years, and been a gifted education advisor to schools for 8 years in the Auckland and Northland region from 2002 - 2009. I now work independently as a consultant, providing professional development for teachers, and support for gifted education coordinators, and students and parents. I also work internationally.
http://www.giftedconsultant.ac.nz